Snow White Learns Stranger Danger
by Vaneria Potter
Summary: Did none of those fairytale characters comprehend the concept of 'Stranger Danger? In this version, Snow White did. It was not beyond belief that a old beggerwoman might wish to repay a good turn, but this one was being far too pushy about being allowed in, and Snow White knew to be wary of "magical" gifts. Sequel to 'Cinderella Grows a Spine', which should be read first.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Snow White, or any of the associated characters_

 _Summary: Did none of those fairytale characters comprehend the concept of 'Stranger Danger'? In this version, Snow White did._

 _A/N: For those who haven't read the prequel (Cinderella Grows a Spine) here is a basic run-down of the necessary information: Cinderella runs away before the ball, fairy godmother is replaced by entirely non-magical Sophia, Cinderella attends the ball, but flees the city when the King wants her and the prince to marry right away. Redemption arc for Anastasia._

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 **Chapter One**

Grand Duchess Anastasia had been many things in her life.

She had been a silly girl whose intelligence was nearly as lacking as her physical beauty. She had been the brave lady who guided her Prince and her step-sister back into each other's arms. Unfortunately, the downside of self-realisation and taking action to redeem yourself is that you can never go back to your former state of ignorance and the way things were.

She had briefly served as a "fairy godmother" under Sophia, Cinderella's strong-willed but somewhat eccentric friend, who still sent weekly letters to the palace for both step-sisters. That had been interesting, but Anastasia lacked the head for planning how to deal with a bad situation, and was no good at the subtle working-around that was so often necessary in Godmother cases.

After that, she had returned to the Capitol, where she had been the head Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Cinderella and eventually named heiress of the previous Grand Duke, who had advised both Henry and the previous king, and passed away only last year.

Anastasia still wasn't sure what had been going through her step-sister's head when Cinderella made the decision to make her a lady-in-waiting, but she wasn't about to complain.

Now, she was a very concerned Aunt.

After several years of trying, Cinderella had given birth to an heir, and less than a year after that, was pregnant again.

The doctor had advised against it, saying that it would be dangerous to Cinderella's health to bear a second child so soon, and even expressing doubts that Cinderella's body would be able to carry a child to term.

Anastasia had largely taken over the care of little Augustus, named for Cinderella's father, when the doctors had unanimously agreed that Cinderella must be put under as little strain as possible, and Henry had been busy alternating between fussing over his wife and running the kingdom by himself, rather than with his wife's help.

Anastasia couldn't blame either of them for that, but she wished King Henry had at least looked into hiring a Royal Nurse at some point. At least the little Crown Prince had attendents to take care of him when Anastasia couldn't be there.

Maybe her mother, long-since moved to another country with Drusilla and married to a third husband the last Anastasia had heard, hadn't been entirely wrong when she complained that men were useless with fine details. Sophia had espoused the same opinion, though she admitted that the abundance of clueless or weak-willed husbands and fathers in the cases they encountered as 'Fairy Godmothers' might just as easily have been coincidence.

But thinking on that did her no good now. Despite the best efforts of the finest doctors money could buy, Cinderella continued to weaken as the child grew, and the unusually cold winter did not help. The pregnancy had not been an easy one, and the midwives said that a hard pregnancy usually made for a hard labour. It was a hard truth that women risked their lives every time they went to childbed, but surely Cinderella could not have overcome so much, only to die like this.

But the fairness of life and divine reward was a concern for priests and philosophers. For now, Anastasia's main concern was keeping King Henry calm and, most importantly, out of the way as Cinderella struggled to bring a tiny life into the world.

It took nearly a full day, with Cinderella lapsing in and out of consciousness near the end, and several instances of Anastasia physically dragging the king away to spend time with his son so Anastasia could check on her primary charge, before an exhausted midwife appeared to tell them that the Queen had given birth to a baby girl… and that the King should see his wife first.

Anastasia wasn't the brightest star in the sky, but she wasn't stupid. People in the medical profession were never that hesitant when they had good news.

One look at Cinderella was enough to confirm that. Henry had to lift her out of the bed, so that the maids could quickly change the bloodied sheets, and even then, Cinderella could barely remain conscious long enough to smile at him. When Henry laid her back down, her golden hair was the only thing that stopped her from blending into the white sheets, rustling softly with each laboured breath.

Anastasia pulled the head doctor to one side, glaring at him in a silent demand for information. One good thing about unfortunate looks was that it made for very effective glares. The doctor broke quickly. "Her Majesty lost a lot of blood, and her strength has been waning for months now. We knew since near the beginning that it would probably come to a choice between the life of the mother and the life of the child, if the Queen even managed to carry to viability."

Anastasia checked that King Henry was pre-occupied and not listening, and lowered her voice just in case, "You couldn't have slipped something into her tonic to make it look like a miscarriage? You condemned the Queen - my sister - to death for the sake of a potential child who might not even draw breath?"

The doctor looked shocked. "Even the unborn have a right to life, Your Grace! The Queen would surely have regretted it later. There was a chance that Queen Cinderella would survive, however small. You have never experienced the miracle of childbirth, and would not understand."

Anastasia nearly slapped the buffoon, who had also clearly never experienced childbirth, and had even less understanding than Anastasia did. Cinderella may have regretted the loss of her child, but at least she would have been alive to do so! Why were the rights of the unborn, who may have died naturally anyway, more important than the rights of a living woman?

With difficulty, she reigned in her anger, taking the bundle of crying blankets from a midwife. She could deal with ruining this buffoon's life and career later. Better yet, she would tell Sophia about this conversation, and let her take care of it. Sophia might have been good-hearted, but she was also a loyal friend, and could plot bloody vengeance like nobody's business.

Dismissing the doctors and midwives, Anastasia looked at the baby, small and sickly and as pale as the snow that fell outside. It would be a mercy if they didn't lose the child as well. She tried to paste on a bright smile. "What will you name her, Your Majesty?"

The King looked up from his wife's still body, his face a mask of agony, which quickly changed to concern at his daughter's too-fair visage. "She's snow-white! I-"

He crumpled again once he felt that the infant was warm and breathing steadily, and Anastasia's arms were too full of baby to slap the scribe who was filling out the birth certificate with the name Snow White. And of course, Henry was oblivious to all but his grief.

Anastasia sighed and carried her new niece off to the Nursery. One of her maids had recently given birth to a stillborn boy, and could serve as a temporary wet-nurse until arrangements could be made. "Come along then, Snow White. Let's go introduce you to your brother."

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 _A/N: As mentioned, this is a sequel to **Cinderella Grows a Spine** , now available on Amazon. Updates will be slower for this one, but feedback would be great._

 _Thanks,_

 _Nat._


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own Snow White, or any of the associated characters._

 _Summary: See Previous Chapter_

 _A/N: Dedicated to my twin, Sally, on the 10th anniversary of her death. RiP, December 26, 2005_

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 **Chapter Two**

Crown Prince Augustus, Heir to the throne of Gallacia, was worried about his little sister.

Physically, she was as well as she had ever been, but she didn't smile anymore, and while she still sang, something she had loved ever since some of the people who had known their mother said that Snow White had inherited her voice, happy songs were becoming rarer and rarer.

Augustus had been taught to look for the pattern in events, and the pattern that was emerging painted a very worrying picture. His sister was miserable, being taken appalling advantage of, and possibly in actual danger.

Perhaps it should have been obvious sooner, but Snow White had always had a slightly unbecoming disregard for things like station and propriety, mingling as much with the domestics as with the nobles, and had been going through a maddening (at least to him) phase of wanting to emulate the mother she had never known.

Aunt Anastasia, who had practically raised them, had looked fantastically awkward as she summoned the Head of Housekeeping when the phase had first started and asked her to allow Snow White to be permitted to assist in some of the lighter tasks… after her lessons were finished for the day.

The new Queen, who wielded scary amounts of influence upon her husband the King, and through him, the kingdom as a whole, did not like her stepchildren. She wasn't obvious about it, and while bystanders might murmur sympathetically about 'adjustment periods' and how it 'couldn't be easy', the new Queen never did anything so overt as to make anyone suspect that there was a problem.

It started with little things, like less time in lessons and more time helping the servants, and a refusal to purchase new clothes until Snow White's old ones were barely fit for the ragman, let alone a princess. The Queen's excuse that there was no reason to waste money on clothes that would only be ruined by hard work, and it _sounded_ reasonable, yet Augustus couldn't help feeling, at the time, that there was something wrong.

Snow White had never been very sociable in the first place, but she started to actively avoid him, which was a definate worry. Something was wrong, and the Crown Prince was going to find out what.

A quick word with the Housekeeper revealed that orders had come from 'on high', as she put it, that the Princess was not to socialise with the other staff, and that her workload, and it's difficulty, were to be increased. No reason had been given, but the staff had been threatened with losing their positions and being blacklisted if they disobeyed.

The only person who could over-rule the Queen was Snow White and Augustus's father, the King, but he was going through one of his 'spells', and the Prince didn't think he could risk waiting for King Henry to recover. So, Augustus did what he always did when he was confused or didn't know what to do next: he went to Aunt Anastasia. She didn't always know what to do, either, but she gave good hugs, and sometimes just talking it through with her helped him decide on a course of action.

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Aunt Anastasia was displeased when Augustus told her his suspicions, but not as surprised as he expected. "I suspected it, too, but without proof, my word is not enough to speak against a Queen, Grand Duchess or not."

Augustus had always known that his aunt was more intelligent than some people said she looked. This was just further proof. "But how did you recognise it, if no-one else did?"

His Aunt looked uncomfortable. "Because I've experienced it before. I didn't realise it for a long time, then, even though I was one of the ones doing it, and I took stopped once I realised what I had been doing, but I know the signs. More importantly, I know how to stop it."

A small voice came from the doorway. "You can get me away from our stepmother?"

It was Snow White, looking wan and exhausted and scared. Aunt Anastasia nodded and motioned for the princess to come inside and shut the door. "It won't be easy, for any of us. Even once you are away, you will still need to be cautious, at least until we find a solution to the dilemma of Her Majesty. Most of all, you need to believe in yourself and your own strength."

Snow White cuddled up to their aunt, both of them ignoring the dirt and soot that fell from her onto the fine silk gown. "I don't know how much strength or courage I have, but I can't stay here. I can't explain why, but I think I'm in danger here."

She wasn't talking about the occasional disgruntled citizen or court assassin, either, and they all knew it. Augustus hugged his sister from the other side, "How can I help?"

Aunt Anastasia looked serious. "There will be gossip if your sister suddenly disappears, even if the story is that she was 'sent to stay with relatives'. If it keeps her safe, can you stop yourself from revealing the truth, no matter what people say about her?"

It would be hard, because gossips were vicious and uncaring of the truth, and High Society even moreso, but if it kept her safe, Augustus could do ignore it. He nodded, "But mother didn't have any living relatives that she acknowledged, except for you. Where will she go."

Aunt Anastasia smiled. "No family related by blood or marriage, but a friend who runs an exclusive school, far from here. Sophia is a very private person, and had responsibilities that prevented her from visiting court, but we have kept in touch."

Both siblings raised simultaneous eyebrows. "Who is Sophia?"

Aunt Anastasia looked pleased that they hadn't rejected the suggestion out of hand. "Sophia was your mother's best friend, the one who helped her when Cinderella finally took control of her own life. She has responsibilities that keep her away from the Capitol, but if I ask, she will shelter Snow White until we can find a more permanent solution."

Augustus frowned. "What about Stepmother? What if she sends someone after Snow White?"

Their Aunt smiled, "Sophia's house isn't easy to find, and she has ways of protecting herself and her charges. Besides, anyone who the Queen or her agents might approach know what side their bread is buttered. They benefit more from Sophia's presence than they would gain by betraying her."

Snow White nodded firmly. "I'll go pack a few things. You think of a way to get me out of the city."

Anastasia smirked. "Pack your nicer clothes and personal belongings in a large basket, like the maids use to carry shopping, but dress in something plain. No-one will notice an extra servant leaving, and I'll arrange for a coach to collect you from the market. I'll send a letter by carrier bird tonight, and Sophia can set things up on her end."

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 _A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating. My laptop is very old, and kept randomly shutting down and losing sections of the document. Luckily, I now have a new one as an early Christmas present, and aside from working out how to use a different brand of computer, it is fantastic!_

 _In other news, I FINALLY GOT PUBLISHED! 'Cinderella Grows a Spine' and 'The Highwayman's Legacy' are now both available on Amazon dot com in Kindle or paperback format. Better yet, both currently have a sequel in the works!_

 _I'm also working on the next chapter now, and I'll try to work on it while I visit Dad for Christmas._

 _Thanks,_

 _Nat_


	3. IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!

_On a side (and totally awesome) note: I HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED AGAIN!_

 _The newest of my books, ' **Snow White Learns Stranger Danger**_ _, is now available through Amazon dot com in kindle and paperback formats!_

 _Unfortunately, that means that it has to be taken down from this site. I'll leave the first chapter or so available as a preview of sorts._

 _I'm still working on_ _' **Beautiful, Inside and Out** ' and '_ ** _Eternity's Invitation_** _', both of which are being posted in 'first draft' form on this site._

 _Thanks,_

 _Nat_


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